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So, I'm completely new to gardening and am wanting to grow food for my family with my new sfg. Should I worry/take any precautions with compost (organic) made from animal manure in terms of bacteria getting into or on the veggies I grow?

The only thing to keep in mind is that diseases can be splashed up from surrounding soil (or soil-less growing media, like the Mel's Mix we use in SFG, or like pure compost) onto a plant, so try to minimize the splattering when you water. Also, some plants simply don't like water on their leaves much, like tomatoes. With the proper type of well-composted compost, the bacteria, fungi, and viruses you need to worry about are not the ones that will infect/affect you, but the ones that might infect/affect the plants.

Lilperu - I am a long time gardener and composter. When you talk about using manure you have to be specific. Are you talking about fresh manure or well composted dry manure? Big difference.

First manure should be from Herbivores - grass eating animals - never from carnivores. Manure must be well cured - dry and nearly odor free - before adding to your garden. Even well cured manure can be on the acidic side - low pH - use it in moderation and make sure to work it into your soil.

My sister and BIL raise and breed quarter horses so I have access to extremely well cured manure. I could but do not add it directly to my garden. I use it in my compost bins. The compost is then used to make Mel's Mix. I never put fresh manure in the compost bins. One exception is rabbit manure. It is a "cool" manure and can be used fresh.

Manure is a wonderful additive but like most things it is best used in moderation. Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing.

You can put fresh green horse muck direct into the bins , it's best done by mixing it in with other greens & browns but can be done a bin at a time if there is plenty of urine soaked stable beddings in with it. If they are really dry use a hose & sprinkler to wet it up .

The green horse muck has a high nitrogen content , this feeds the composting bacteria . In turn the bacterial action produces heat in the compost bin ( See " Are you a hottie " threads ) . The heat is needed to pasteurise the material .. kill of pathogens & weed seeds , temperatures as high as 150 oF are commonplace if the composting is done well .

Good reading for a brilliant composting regime and various explanations of it can be found at " The Berkley 18 day hot composting method" .

I was checking out Craig's list and found a local farmer giving away sheep manure, both 3 yr old and fresh. Picked up some of both yesterday and added the fresh compost pile and the finished compost pile. He breeds the sheep mostly for young people in the 4H programs, but occasionally has a lamb for eating. Usually one that cannot be shown.

AND, the lady of the house is a Master Gardener and we plan to exchange some flowers in the fall.

@walshevak wrote:I was checking out Craig's list and found a local farmer giving away sheep manure, both 3 yr old and fresh. Picked up some of both yesterday and added the fresh compost pile and the finished compost pile. He breeds the sheep mostly for young people in the 4H programs, but occasionally has a lamb for eating. Usually one that cannot be shown.

AND, the lady of the house is a Master Gardener and we plan to exchange some flowers in the fall.